On Tuesday Buccaneers Jordan Whitehead Jersey , the New York Jets and USA Football hosted a four-team flag football tournament at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, New Jersey. It was part of the New York City Police Athletic League (PAL) NFL FLAG Football program.

It was a huge hit, as quarterbacks Josh McCown and Christian Hackenberg and nose tackle Mike Pennel worked with the youngsters and the winning team earned a trip to Florida.

”It’s awesome, to be a part of this and give back to the community,” McCown said. ”For the kids to come here and be a part of this and to see the officers, you just hope that for them it helps them dream big and encourage them to keep chasing their goals. There’s a lot of smiling faces out here. They’re having a lot of fun.”

Article continues below ... The teams each represented a New York City borough and were each coached by members of the New York Police Department and by McCown, Hackenberg and Pennel. Manhattan North defeated Queens South 62-14 in the championship and will represent the Jets at the NFL Flag Championships during Pro Bowl week in Orlando in January 2018.

Before the games, the Jets presented a $40,000 check to the NYC PAL to fund the flag football program. The partnership aims to bring the community closer together by providing 1,200 youth from the five boroughs of New York City the chance to play flag football at no cost. NYPD officers volunteer to coach teams near their local precincts.

”This program is actually great because it gives everybody an opportunity to see that the police can interact with children. They get to look at police officers in a different way Buccaneers Alex Cappa Jersey ,” said winning coach and NYPD homicide detective Wil Acevedo. ”Having this event here and working with NFL players is awesome because it now puts it into perspective for the kids that this can be a real goal if I work hard and bust their tails. They see these NFL ballplayers like human beings. Mike (Pennel) was awesome, he’s out there high-fiving us, jumping with us, he was part of the team. The kids notice that.”

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THE KNEE-BORHOOD: When Houston Texans quarterback DeShaun Watson went down with a season-ending ACL injury, there were hundreds of players around the league who could painfully relate. One of those was Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who returned to practice from a 14-month absence just before Watson was hurt.

Bridgewater’s knee injury was more severe, a dislocation with multiple ligament tears, but the sentiment remained the same.

”He comes from a background where he had to overcome obstacles his entire life. Nothing ever comes easy, and I know that he’s going to attack his rehab full speed,” Bridgewater said.

Bridgewater has plenty of teammates in his locker room to try to encourage and inspire as well Buccaneers Carlton Davis Jersey , including rookie running back Dalvin Cook, who tore his ACL six weeks ago.

”Dalvin, he lives in the neighborhood. This right here is called the neighborhood,” Bridgewater said, adding: ”He can lean on me, and I give him different advice and I know what it takes with having someone around who keeps you lifted.”

As for Watson, Bridgewater said he planned to contact him directly soon, but immediately after Watson’s injury last week he limited his communication to Twitter. That’s because Bridgewater received what he estimated at 800 text messages after he was hurt on Aug. 30, 2016. Bridgewater said this week he needed three months to finish responding to all of them.

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TRAVELING MAN: Inside linebacker Joseph Jones is good at moving around, and not just on the football field.”This is the fourth place I’ve been Buccaneers M.J. Stewart Jersey ,” the rookie from Northwestern said after the Denver Broncos signed him off Seattle’s practice squad Tuesday.

Jones also spent time on the Chargers’ practice squad after getting cut by the Cowboys, who signed him in May after he went undrafted.

”It’s been a crazy process,” Jones said as he took a break from studying yet another playbook and scouting out another city.

It’s not like Jones can just pack a suitcase and hop on a plane like most rookies trying to catch on with a team. He and his wife of two years have a 1-year-old daughter, and every time they’re about to join him in a different city, he’s off somewhere else.

”It’s ridiculous. Going to Dallas and getting ready to have them move to Dallas, hoping I made the team, it didn’t happen, so I moved back home,” to Illinois, Jones said. ”I went to the Chargers Buccaneers Ronald Jones II Jersey , I was there for three days and was getting ready to move them there. I went back home. Went to Seattle. I finally got them to come there, we were starting to look for another spot, about to rent a car and kind of get set up there.

”All of a sudden, `Hey Joe, you’re going to Denver.”’

At least he’s assured of being in Colorado for Thanksgiving because a team plucking a player off another team’s practice squad must keep him on their 53-man roster at least three weeks.

”It’s a whirlwind, but I’ve enjoyed the process,” Jones said. ”I would say it’s rougher on my wife than on me.”

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BY ANY NAME: Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota got a text from his brother last Monday night asking if he was watching the Lions beat the Packers. Mariota wasn’t and wondered what was up.

Well, Mariota had just become part of the game. Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford yelled Mariota’s last name as part of a play call at the line of scrimmage.